Heretofore, vacuum systems that have been utilized in extracting the liquid and debris from dental patient's mouth or from another source during a dental procedure have posed several problems for the dental practitioner. Among these problems are the wastefulness and untimeliness involved in disposing of the liquid and debris. In some systems, running water is utilized to establish a vacuum which is directed to the place to be evacuated such as the patient's mouth and which extracts the liquid and dental debris therefrom and transports it to the vacuum source which, in this case, is the continually running water. A significant disadvantage of such a system is that a very large amount of water must be utilized during the continuous operation of the system which must then be discarded. Since the water which operates the system must be discarded during its use and may contain deleterious matter in the form of dental debris, significant environmental problems may arise. Obviously, one such environmental problem is the high rate of water usage during operation.
Other systems, while not employing continually running water as a vacuum source, nonetheless utilize a centrally-located debris canister or variant thereof wherein the extracted debris is collected during operation. Such a debris canister must periodically be emptied and, as a result, the centrally-located system must be shut down at that time. Such a system can present a significant problem when the canister must be emptied while the dentist is performing a dental procedure on a patient. Some systems incorporate mechanisms which are able to sense the moment of need for emptying the debris canister and are further capable of disposing of the contents therein. However, such systems most often require installation in close proximity to a floor drain which can be impractical or impossible. Additionally, even if floor drain access is practical, these systems fail to collect and accumulate particulate solid waste, allowing same to enter the drain creating the potential for future plumbing problems.
Common to each of the aforementioned dental vacuum systems is the problem associated with obtaining optimal dental waste mass flow rates while minimizing both negative vacuum pressures necessary for such flow rates and facility space needed for locating the vacuum canisters. The optimal dental waste mass flow rate is approximately five cubic feet per minute. Heretofore, such a mass flow rate was obtainable only when 40-55 gallon debris canisters and their associated high required negative vacuum pressures were used in conjunction therewith. Such is the case because prior art systems have no means of decelerating the entering debris, such that as the volume of the canister used decreases, the likelihood of the debris being undesirably sucked into the vacuum pump line increases. Thus, when smaller debris canisters were used, the maximum available mass flow rates declined correspondingly.
Additionally, installation or removal of the prior art dental vacuum systems requires considerable plumbing and property improvements to access the required water, vacuum lines and electricity. In such a case, the considerable inconvenience and expense incurred by the dental professional are obvious.
What is needed in the art is an improved dental vacuum receptacle that is independently operable at individual dental treatment stations, accumulates liquid and solid waste from dental procedures and facilitates pumping of this waste out to an overhead plumbing system at such time as the quantity of waste demands. The receptacle should also access any necessary water, electricity and waste removal from overhead utility access thereby permitting expeditious and convenient installation while minimizing or eliminating the need for altering the structure within which the receptacle is used. In addition, the system should enable optimal dental waste mass flow rates while drastically reducing both negative vacuum pressures needed to obtain such flow rates and facility space needed for locating the vacuum canisters.
The present invention accomplishes these objectives by providing a vacuum receptacle that accumulates and holds liquids and certain solids that are withdrawn from the mouths of dental patients by a suction tube or other apparatus placed in the patient's mouth during dental procedures. The receptacle incorporates a vacuum outlet port to which a vacuum pump line is attached. The vacuum pump line pulls air through the receptacle from a waste inlet port which is connected through a hose to the tube in the patient's mouth. Along with the air coming into the receptacle through the waste inlet port is the fluid and solid sediment debris from the patient's mouth. In order to improve the dental waste mass flow rate capability of the receptacle and to prevent suction of the fluid and sediments into the vacuum pump line, a baffling system is provided to impact and decelerate the fluids and sediments as they enter the receptacle. Once decelerated, the fluid and sediments fall to the bottom of the receptacle where they accumulate up to a predetermined level whereupon a float assembly activates a discharge pump. The discharge pump is connected to a waste outlet port that removes the accumulated fluids via an internal waste outlet tube. The sediment is collected at the bottom of the receptacle whereupon the sediment may be periodically disposed of as solid waste, thereby minimizing, if not eliminating the threat of plumbing damage. In the event the float assembly or discharge pump fails and the waste in the canister continues to accumulate, a vacuum safety float assembly is activated by the rising waste. Upon activation, the safety float assembly temporarily disables the vacuum pump thereby preventing further accumulation.
Listed below are samples of patents based in part on dental suction devices. These patents are merely representative of the art and do not suggest the teachings of the present invention:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,746,033 (1973) to Keiper, II discloses a dental oral evacuating system which includes a receptacle unit through which liquid and solid waste material passes after withdrawal from the oral cavity and means to connect the receptacle to a source of flushing liquid for said receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,959 (1982) to Rosander discloses an apparatus for separating solid particles, particularly mercury compounds and alloys, from a fluid, such as dental waste water, contaminated therewith.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,910 (1983) to Cattani discloses a console specifically designed for the suction tubes of suction units used in dentistry.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,383 (1985) to Jerzy discloses a gravity separator intended for use in dental suction apparatus comprising at least one sucker having a suction mouthpiece and a sucker line.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,374 (1986) to Hofmann discloses a separator for incorporation into dental suction apparatus for separating from the suction stream liquid and solid materials coming from the mouth of a patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,978 (1986) to Motola et al. discloses a vacuum operated dental evacuation system.